Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Increases Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,087 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $39,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on DRI. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $170.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $150.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.19. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 65.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.